Hebrews 11:1 KJV -
What is faith?
- Thread starter iouae
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God's Truth
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Abraham believed AND OBEYED.
That is living faith. Faith without obedience is DEAD; it cannot save anyone. See James 2:14, 17, 20, and 22.
No one is saved by being given the Holy Spirit unless they believe and obey Jesus. See John 14:23, and Acts 5:32, and more.
iouae
Well-known member
And here is a comprehensive list of New Testament do's and don'ts, all 1050 of them.
https://www.cai.org/bible-studies/1050-new-testament-commands
Or did you have something else in mind?
SeraphimsCherub
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Faith is God generated through Christ by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
God's Truth
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There is a new covenant.
Jesus gave the commands for the new covenant.
New Testament means New Covenant.
God's Truth
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Faith is from God, from reading His powerful message, the Bible, the New Testament. It has the powerful message that saves. We do not get faith supernaturally, as many teach, but we get faith in a very human way, from reading the supernatural message!
Where does our faith come from? Our faith comes from HEARING the word, see Romans 10:17. From hearing the word and being TAUGHT, Colossians 1:5, 7. From continuing in what we have been CONVINCED of, see 2 Timothy 3:14, and being PERSUADED, 2 Corinthians 5:11. I
Trust simply means “trust.” Belief means belief IN something.
Many Christians believe that one is only a Christian if they believe in “Jesus AS” Son of God, born of a virgin, Savior, etc.
Christians who trust acknowledge what is “factually correct” in real history, and can more than not apply a workable metaphor to the actual events.
It’s not the historical facts. It is the shared meaning that is placed over actual historical events that matters.
Jesus was tortured and killed on a Roman cross. Later on, some of his followers still felt Jesus’s Presence and Power even though he was put to death.
Belief in the crucifixion as a metaphor that states Rome did not win and death is victory is only made possible by Christian faith.
Again, they are two different terms.
Again, in Christian theology and dogma, belief and trust are related, but they are not the same thing.
In essence they are two different words that have plainly different meanings.
God's Truth
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It is the same.
We have to believe Jesus. We have to trust him. If you believe him and do not obey, then you do not have living faith. We must have living faith, which is the belief that God expects from us.
They can either have dead belief/faith, or faith/belief which is alive.
Faith that is alive is faith that is not dead. Dead faith is faith without obedience.
We have to believe and obey.
It is not confusing.
Belief, faith, and trust are all one thing if faith is alive.
God's Truth
New member
There is dead faith.
There is living faith.
Dead faith is faith not accompanied by obedience.
Living faith if faith with the trust it takes to obey.
God's Truth
New member
The faith/trust/belief that God wants from us are the same. It is faith with obedience.
All I am pointing to is the fact that the word “belief” as Jesus and the Jews knew it, had to do with trust and trust only.
Any objective student of biblical history will find the same truth.
Because this information is short and to the point, many traditional Christians would tend to have their own personal theologies ahead of any historical truths about the term.
I have also come to understand over the years that Jesus did not “believe” in God. I would now say that he knew God so he didn’t have to strive to “believe” in him.
Faith with obedience is simply faith with obedience.
What that particular truth means is up to every individual believer.
Theologies and interpretations are faith statements. They are not evident facts that any objective believer would see.
God's Truth
New member
Jesus spoke to OBEDIENT Jews.
Jesus spoke to the Jews who knew they had to obey the ceremonial works just to go to the temple where God's Spirit was.
That does not make sense. Jesus knew and believed in God.
God's Truth
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We have to search for God, and we will find God.
We search for God by getting Jesus' teachings; we find God by obeying Jesus' teachings.
He spoke to Jews, and many of those rejected him.
"[Obeying] the ceremonial works just to go to the temple where God's Spirit... “
That is your own personal theology. It is clearly not what Jesus taught--at least not in any literal sense.
Jesus KNEW God, in my opinion. He did not have to BELIEVE in him, for this word is applicable to human beings, not the Son of God.
Do WE have to “believe” in our own father? Or our Heavenly Father?
I say no.
iouae
Well-known member
Did you look at those 1050 commands in the New Testament?
Here they are again.
https://www.cai.org/bible-studies/1050-new-testament-commands
You keep on saying we need to obey. If not these, then what?
glorydaz
Well-known member
opcorn:
iouae
Well-known member
My feeling is that we should obey the 1050 NT commands.
And somewhat like Ab, we have to obey the promptings of the Holy Spirit when a strong conviction comes upon us to help in some situation.
Suppose someone in front of you in the queue is short 1$. You may feel strongly convicted to give them that 1$ as an act of service. One should obey these promptings too. This is an act of faith because this is done for Christ, and we know He will more than make up for this little act of service.
And somewhat like Ab, we have to obey the promptings of the Holy Spirit when a strong conviction comes upon us to help in some situation.
Suppose someone in front of you in the queue is short 1$. You may feel strongly convicted to give them that 1$ as an act of service. One should obey these promptings too. This is an act of faith because this is done for Christ, and we know He will more than make up for this little act of service.